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Single Idea 3471

[filed under theme 8. Modes of Existence / B. Properties / 7. Emergent Properties ]

Full Idea

Some system features cannot be figured out just from the composition of the elements of the system and environmental relations; they have to be explained in terms of causal relations among the elements.

Gist of Idea

Some properties depend on components, others on their relations

Source

John Searle (The Rediscovery of the Mind [1992], Ch. 5.I)

Book Ref

Searle,John R.: 'The Rediscovery of the Mind' [MIT 1999], p.111

A Reaction

One must explain at the molecular level why an apple skin is both red and smooth. In the brain one must explain the movement of glucose and the contents of thoughts by their causal relations (I say).

The 14 ideas with the same theme [new properties only found at higher levels of existence]:

3471 Some properties depend on components, others on their relations [Searle]
3472 Fully 'emergent' properties contradict our whole theory of causation [Searle]
2320 Properties can have causal powers lacked by their constituents [Kim]
3291 Emergent properties appear at high levels of complexity, but aren't explainable by the lower levels [Nagel]
3432 Is weight a 'resultant' property of water, but transparency an 'emergent' property? [Kim]
3434 Emergent properties are 'brute facts' (inexplicable), but still cause things [Kim]
2469 The world is full of messy small things producing stable large-scale properties (e.g. mountains) [Fodor]
4083 If mental properties are emergent they add a new type of causation, and physics is not complete [Crane]
4082 The distinction between 'resultant' properties (weight) and 'emergent' properties is a bit vague [Crane]
4612 Complex properties are just arrangements of simple properties; they do not "emerge" as separate [Heil]
4615 Complex properties are not new properties, they are merely new combinations of properties [Heil]
18513 Emergent properties will need emergent substances to bear them [Heil]
14302 A lead molecule is not leaden, and macroscopic properties need not be microscopically present [Mumford]
14553 Weak emergence is just unexpected, and strong emergence is beyond all deduction [Mumford/Anjum]